Power
by Dr MilkyWay
Summary: When Oliver is turned into Dark Overclocked Oliver, it's up to Riggs, Astoria, and Graham to change him back before he destroys them and rest of the Battle Bears.
1. Chapter 1

"King me," said Riggs triumphantly.

Sadly, Oliver did not share his enthusiasm. He reluctantly reached for a piece to place on top of the one to be crowned, but came to the realization that he had not captured enough of Riggs' pieces to crown his fourth king in two minutes.

"I can't believe this," whined Oliver.

"I'm sorry I'm just that good at checkers," said Riggs.

"Can we just say you own and go on perimeter check or something?" asked Oliver.

Anger built up in Riggs' face. He could tell Oliver was at quitting time, but he wasn't going to let that happen.

Riggs placed his hands on the checker board, so he hung over it with his face in Oliver's personal space.

"If all my pieces were Huggables, and your last sad little piece in the corner was you, would you let them come to you? Would you just give up without a fight? Or would you fight your way through, ensuring you save your own life, or at least die trying?" asked Riggs metaphorically.

From the sudden intimidation of Riggs' aggression came hope and confidence in Oliver.

"No. I would go kill them all and return to Astoria, Graham, and you," said Oliver smiling. "Let's play."

* * *

It wasn't two turns before Riggs had claimed Oliver's final piece.

"Victory is mine, now I believe you owe me something," said Riggs.

Oliver's mouth was agape. He couldn't believe how easily he was crushed, figuratively and emotionally, by those last two turns.

"Can I not please?" asked Oliver desperately.

Riggs got up from the floor.

"Do it or you'll be the night watch for the week," commanded Riggs.

Without a word, Oliver got up, made shapes with his hands, and with all the confidence he could muster, began to...

Oliver's eyes shrank. His stomach collapsed. Sweat dropped from his face and arm.

Astoria was standing in the doorway, leaning against it, expectantly waiting for him to begin.

"Riggs, please," begged Oliver.

Riggs turned his shoulder and saw Astoria.

"You'll have to be braver than this to vanquish our enemy. Do it, exactly as we bet," said Riggs as he crossed his arms, smiling.

"Riggs, you don't understand..." started Oliver.

"I understand completely," said Riggs.

Oliver took a glance at Astoria, who had not moved the entire time, then back at Riggs. Then Graham entered the room.

"Well, young 'un, we're waiting," said Graham as he walked in, then stood stationary, leaning on his T-square.

Before his audience got bigger, Oliver made a big decision.

"No," he said, planting his feet, putting his arms at his sides, struggling to make a serious face.

"Soldier, you made a deal with me before you agreed to play. You will uphold this deal, or you will be on night watch for three weeks," said Riggs sternly.

Oliver's opinion hadn't changed. He shook his head, almost unnoticeably.

Astoria walked out, disappointed. Graham followed, muttering something along the lines of "Young troublemaker is going to get himself in trouble for making a bet he couldn't uphold."

Riggs was clearly disappointed. He left Oliver without at word.

Oliver decided since he was going to be up for two weeks, he might as well try to get some sleep now, while the sun was still up.

* * *

While he did fall asleep, it failed to help much when darkness struck and he woke up with water to the face.

"Wake up, you lazy oaf. Ready to walk in circles on the roof until the sun shines?" asked Astoria, who was holding a now empty cup.

"Like I have a choice," said Oliver as he grabbed his rifle.

"By the way, thanks for denying me something interesting happening today," said Astoria coldly.

"You would've gone back on it in the same situation," said Oliver accusingly.

"If I were in this situation, I would go through with my end of a deal, no matter what," proclaimed Astoria. "Graham was nice enough to leave the ladder next to the front door for you, you can get it yourself, I'm going to bed."

"Good night, tell the others I said that," said Oliver, still tired.

Oliver stepped outside the wooden one story building they called a base. He climbed on top of the flat roof, and turned on his lantern. Fortunately, the perimeter fence was lit, so he could see any huggable trying to reach them, and shoot them down easily.

After a few hours of a very huggable-less night, Oliver began to doze off. This stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his arm. He made a cry, then got to his feet and aimed his rifle around, looking for who shot him.

Then he noticed what hit him: a dart. His speech slurred "Riggs..." before he completely passed out on the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun had not yet come out when the sirens had awoken Graham from his sleep.

He awoke with a jolt, unhealthy for his old heart.

But what was more unhealthy for him was the two huggable in his room.

The flashing lights and blaring noises had put them in stupor, they were covering their ears, not running after Graham.

The seasoned Battle Bears quickly got to his feet and grabbed the survival knife Riggs ensured he kept by his nightstand.

He was going to make his move on one of the huggables while they were still unaware of the danger they were in, but tripped over one of the many wires on the floor that routed to the machinery and computers in his room.

He quickly came to the realization that he couldn't get up, due to his old age. And to make matters worse, the huggables had awoken from their shock, and with as big as grins as ever, approached Graham, helplessly stuck on his stomach like a turtle stuck on his back.

"Help! I've fallen and I can't get up! I'm trapped with two pink whatchemacallits!" he cried.

Graham had fallen rather close to the huggables, he knew he couldn't rely on his allies' help.

Quickly, his eyes swept around, looking for a solution.

They found the survival knife, just out of reach. Graham crawled towards it, effectively gripping it.

Turning his attention towards the immediate threat, he saw one of the Huggables was leaning over his torso, ready to give him a big, warm, murderous hug, and the other directly in front of him, in range of the knife.

Quickly, he swept the knife at the second one's nub feet, pouring rainbow blood and stuffing from it and making it's ability to stand equal to his.

As for the other huggable, Graham couldn't stab it effectively since he was on his stomach and it was about to grab him from the back, so he did the smartest thing he could have done: he held the knife perpendicular to his back with the sharp end pointing skyward, so the huggable's stomach was impaled on the knife.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop it. While Graham was now able to repel it with the knife, it acted as if there was no pain, and only outstretched his arms at Graham's torso.

Meanwhile, in front of him, the huggable whose feet he chopped was now crawling towards him head first, so Graham was able to shove him back a little.

"Well, you two monsters have put me in quite the pickle, haven't you?" Graham said. "How am I supposed to stop the both of you now?"

Then Graham noticed the turret in his room. Ever since they had got on the planet, he programmed it to shoot any huggable on sight with extreme precision and prejudice. If he could turn it on, his problems' heads would fly off with a rainbow trail.

Quickly, he gave the huggable in front of him a punch in the nose with his one free hand, and with his other hand, let go of the knife, now in the other huggable's stomach, and pushed him back.

With two free hands, Graham now crawled toward his bed with his utility belt as fast as his old hands and legs would let him. He grabbed it from on top, and pulled a remote with only one button on it.

He pressed the button while aiming at the turret, and it's muzzle rose. As soon as it's muzzle was parallel to the ground, it aimed and fired two shots, one for each huggable's head.

Afterward, he pressed the button again to deactivate it.

* * *

Instantly, Riggs burst into the room.

"Graham! I heard gunshots! We're surrounded by the pink basta-"

He took a moment to notice the two dead Huggables in the room, one with it's feet chopped off, one with a knife in it's stomach, and both decapitated, with rainbow blood all over the floor, and large bits on Graham's fur.

"I've still got it. Help me up, my back hurts too much for me to get up on my own," said Graham.

"I trust now you see the importance of having a knife around at all times?" asked Riggs as he helped Graham up.

"See the importance of a knife? Sonny, I'm one of the oldest Battle Bears in existence, I'm sure I told new recruits that at some point," responded Graham. "It's the boy that needs to know he's not as safe as he feels."

Riggs' mood changed entirely at the mention of Oliver.

"That incompetent boy has a lot to answer to when I find him. For now, we need to regroup with Astoria, she's on the roof fighting back the stampede."

The two began to walk and talk out in the hallway leading outside.

"Stampede? You're saying he let a stampede come in after his first night?" Graham became angry as well. "I hope you plan to relieve him of his three weeks of watch duty."

"I will, but now we need to focus on the situation at hand. I'm glad those huggables didn't get you, because we couldn't activate your defense grid without you."

Now the two were outside, and Graham saw the full image of what was happening. huggables were everywhere, climbing the fence, trying to break in through the windows. The only source of light was the periodic redness of the alarm, and the flare of Astoria's rifle on the roof.

"Old man!" called Astoria, " Activate your defense grid!" Mow these suckers down!"

Again, Graham pulled out his single-button remote, and individually, pressed it while aiming at every individual turret he previous set up on the ground and the roof.

While each one shot laser beams that shot the stampede of huggables down, Riggs and Astoria returned inside to clean out the ones that broke in through the windows.

Graham was happy to sit down after being woken up at 5:00 AM, as his watch said, by two monsters, having fallen on his stomach, and now having to fight back a whole herd of pink bears all to the periodic red light of the alarms, and the sound of gunfire inside and out.

Finally, it was over. Graham's turrets had left no invader standing, and Riggs and Astoria returned outside to meet him, all of them covered in multicolored blood.

"So now that that's over, I have a new question, which I'm sure is on all of your minds: Where is Oliver?"

Anger built up in Riggs once again. "He's probably in his room, turned in early, and then locked the doors and windows when the damned huggables came."

"Sir, I don't think that's where he is. While I was on the roof..."

"Save it, special agent. I want to see if he is before jumping to any conclusions...including assuming the worst."

The door to Oliver's room burst open.

"OLIVER! WHAT THE HELL-" began Riggs.

The room was empty. Oliver's bed was unmade, his rifle was missing, but other than that, it was just as it was last left.

"Sir, what I was going to say was that while I fought off the stampede for the roof, I found this next to some bullets," said Astoria as she displayed Oliver's cyan rifle for both Riggs and Graham to see. "If he went back to bed, he would have taken this with him. I think something bad happened."

Graham picked up the rifle to examine.

"There was no body, correct?" asked Riggs.

"Affirmative. I've found no body."

"We don't know of any huggable that can vaporize, do we?"

"Can we not assume he's dead?" asked Astoria.

Riggs fell silent.

Graham broke the silence.

"He's not dead. He's been captured," said Graham as he turned back to his fellow battle bears.

"His rifle hasn't been fired recently. If he were going to be killed by a huggable, he would've fired at it as many times as he could," said Graham.

"So he's alive?" asked Astoria.

"When he was taken, yes," said Graham.

"Who would have taken him?" asked Riggs, puzzled.

"I don't know," said Graham. "Is it possible that we are not the only intelligent life on this planet?"

"It certainly is," said Astoria. "So assuming someone we don't know took Oliver, how do we find them, and why would they want him?"

* * *

Meanwhile, deep under the surface of the pink planet, Oliver awakens in a place he does not recognize.

He begins to rise from the floor.

"What...? This isn't where I fell asleep. Wait, where did I fall asleep last night?" Oliver thought.

His memories returned to him when he felt the part of his skin where the dart he has been taken somewhere against his will, Oliver begins to absorb his surroundings. He is in a completely white box-shaped room with a red sofa on which he was just sleeping on, and a coffee table in front of him with the initials H.I.P. carved into it.

"H.I.P.? What's that mean? Have I been captured? Are my team looking for me?" thought Oliver.

"Hello, Oliver, and welcome to the Hazard Investigation Program," said a voice behind the couch.

Oliver looked back to see a black bear who was bigger than him but smaller than Riggs in a lab coat, holding two cups of hot chocolate.

"I imagine you're tired at this hour, just thought you might need something to perk you up," said the bear.

_I shouldn't Oliver thought. Riggs said if someone you don't know offers you a drink, you don't know what's in it. But he's letting me pick, not knowing what he'll get... Who cares what Riggs says! He would have made me do something embarrassing in front of the team!_

"The right one," Oliver responded.

They both sat down on the couch, and after both having a sip of hot chocolate and placing it on the coffee table, the bear began to say: "I suppose you're wondering just what we are and what's you're doing here. The H.I.P. is a top secret subdivision of the Battle Bears, we're responsible for the first check on threats and weapons, it's our job to determine how to utilize a weapon and how to effectively destroy our enemies, so that information on both can be told to the rest of the Battle Bears. My name is Dr. Samuel Clancy, and you have caught our interest, young Oliver."

Oliver was put off for a second. "Why would you want me? I'm one of you, a battle bear. I'm not a threat or a weapon."

"Ah, but you are both, Ollie," responded Dr. Clancy.

"No, no, no, while I'm happy you know who I am, since I did fight my way off the Ursa Major pretty heroically when the huggables first came up, I'm-"

"That's exactly why you're here, Oliver, your performance on the Ursa Major," interrupted Dr. Clancy. "Do you remember the robot that attacked the ship before you and your partner Riggs escaped?"

Oliver's ears rose in interest. He knew exactly where this was going.

" have kept that incident a secret, we know exactly what happened once that robot found you. We know about how you went Overclock," said Dr. Clancy seriously.

Oliver took a sip of his hot chocolate. "So you know I went crazy up there while happening to have power," said Oliver. "I don't like where this is going."

"Oh? And why is that?" asked Dr. Clancy, now his turn to raise his ears in interest.

"Because this is normally the part where you put me in a cryochamber for the rest of my life."

"No! No! No! We don't want to contain your gift. We want to use it, to eradicate the huggables, and all future threats the Battle Bears may face."

"You do? You mean I'm going to be an all power soldier for us?" asked Oliver with interest.

"If all goes well, yes," replied Dr. Clancy.

"Then I'm in!" said Oliver as he did a jump of excitement.

"Prefect, we're glad to hear it. If you'll follow me this way, we can begin to learn the secret of Overclocked Oliver," said Dr. Clancy as he opened the door out of the room.

"I prefer just O.C.O.," said Oliver, embarrassed of the cheesy name for his god form.

"O.C.O. it is, then. Bring your hot chocolate, you'll want to be wide awake for this."

The next room Oliver followed Dr. Clancy was ginormous, there were giant machines everywhere with other scientists around them, all with H.I.P. written on their lab coats. There were cages with huggables in them, each copying different environments and threats. There was a shooting range where robots were testing out what Oliver assumed to be experimental weapons, that maybe he would use one day.

"This place is amazing, Doc!" said Oliver.

Dr. Clancy chuckled. "I tell myself that every time I come down here. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to tell my team you're ready. Stay right here, don't move."

When Dr. Clancy left, Oliver noticed some of the scientists were staring at him.

A group of scientists stood in a semicircle, waitron for information.

"Good news, he bought it, he's going to perform the procedure compliant," whispered Dr. Clancy to his colleagues.

"Wonderful. From him, we can find out how to overclock ourselves," said one of the scientists.

"That's the plan, now let's get to work before he wisens up," said Dr. Clancy. "Oliver! Over here!"

"Coming!" Oliver responded, dashing to the doctor.


	3. Chapter 3

"He's what?"

"MIA, Captain Malcolm. Oliver is MIA," said Riggs to the holographic projector displayinghis captain. "I am requesting a search party."

"Granted, Riggs," said Malcolm. "I will dispatch twenty soldiers from base camp under your command, they should arrive at your outpost within the hour. Find him, Riggs. No bear left behind."

"Affirmative, sir," said Riggs, saluting his captain.

After the call was cut off, Riggs and Astoria looked eye to eye from opposite ends of the dinner table.

"So we've got help," said Astoria. "But what leads do we have?" We've looked all around the immediate vicinity and found no footprints, all we have is his rifle we found on the roof."

"I'll tell you what leads we have," said Riggs. "Like you said, there was no footprints. That means whatever or whoever took Oliver never touched the ground. Almost as if it were flying. And anything that flies is able to go far distances."

"So whoever these people are aren't down the lane. Still, where does that leave us?" asked Astoria.

Graham came in the room and activated the hologram projector. He opened a maps application on it and showed a 3D representation of the land around their outpost.  
"It leaves us wanting to expand our boundaries. Going where we've never gone before," said Graham. "That means going places that are not displayed on this map."

"When the search party gets here, we should dispatch them in different directions from this point, having each of them look for anything suspicious from a bird's eye," said Astoria. "Unless someone has a better idea."

Riggs and Graham sat quietly.

"Good. Until then, we prepare our own Pelican't and wait," said Riggs as he got up to head outside.

* * *

Oliver was being strapped to some sort of dentist's chair, with IVs being put in both his arms, and a heart monitor on his chest. The way the scientists around him got him ready reminded him of how celebrities get their makeup put on.

"So Oliver, for this first experiment, we will be giving you a steady source of electricity, and as e what will happen," said Dr. Clancy. "We won't kill you, but it may sting."

"Should I be awake for this?" asked Oliver.

"When things get serious, we will put you to sleep, but for these first few hours, we want you as awake as you can be. Why do you think I grabbed you a hot chocolate?" replied Dr. Clancy.

"First few hours? Oh, no..." thought Oliver.

A scientist behind a video camera asked Oliver: "Are you ready to start the procedure?"

All the other scientist stepped back with notebooks, ready to describe what happens.

"Yes, I am," said Oliver.

"Then let's begin, said a scientist directly to the right of him. With the press of a key on a his computer, electricity began to run through Oliver's veins. Clancy hadn't lied, it did sting, but only initially.

After his initial sting, Dr. Clancy began to ask questions.

"Now, Oliver, are you feeling all right? After the initial shock?" he asked in a very polite voice.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I feel great!" said Oliver enthusiastically.

"Great in what way?"

"I feel stronger, like I could lift something I couldn't before."

Dr. Clancy smiled.

"Are you noticing any odd tingling in your body?"

"My fingers are twitching."

"Good to know, good to know..."

The scientist around were writing down their observations.

"Do your senses at all feel different?"

"Yeah, my sense of smell feels much stronger now."

"How?"

This continued on and on, until they had let Oliver out of the chair.

"Now follow me to conclude the first test," said Dr. Clancy. They walked to another end of the room where there was a 400 barbell weight.

"You were exposed to that slow, steady flow of electricity for exactly fifteen minutes. Let's see how it stacks up."

Oliver, quickly figuring out what to do, walked over to the weight, and gripped his fingers on it.

To his surprise, and the satisfaction of the scientists, he was able to lift it with ease.

"Whoa."

"Whoa indeed. How about test number two now?"

This broke Oliver out of his stupor.

"Sure, yeah, let's do it. Man, Riggs could only bench 300," said Oliver. It was then Oliver realized something. "Say, doc, why did you have to capture me to bring me here?"

"We're top secret. We couldn't get you here by conventional means."

"So my team doesn't know where I am, do they?" asked Oliver.

Clancy stood there in silence, until he said: "No, I reckon they don't. But I'm sure Captain Malcolm made up some excuse for them not to worry."

"Captain Malcolm?" asked Oliver. "Is he in on the H.I.P.?"

"He created it. Keep in mind, we're a subdivision of the Battle Bears, so we're one of you."

Oliver still felt uneasy that he couldn't tell his team where he was. He decided to go onto the next test instead.

The test continued all day, and varied little. Occasionally they would check Oliver's performance mentally and physically by asking him questions and having him perform various exercises.

* * *

Back at Oliver's team's outpost, the troops Malcolm had sent had arrived, and Riggs, their temporary commander, was giving them their mission as they stood attentively in a line.

Astoria and Graham watched.

"All right, men, our job is simple and clear," began Riggs as he addressed his temporarily assessed troops. "We need to find the missing soldier Oliver. He has presumably been taken-"

Riggs stopped. Two troops on the end were laughing.

Riggs marched over to them.

"Is something funny, men?" asked Riggs.

"Yes. You see, Kowalski here was wondering why we came all this way just to find a soldier that was half all our size, half your size too, as a matter of fact, and I said-"

"Give me your hand."

"What?"

"Give me your hand."

The soldier complied.

Riggs grabbed his hand, pulled him to his knees, held him in a choke position, and had a knife at his neck.

"You do not insult my men in the place where they sleep at night. I want to hear nothing of this while we are searching for Oliver. Understood?"

"Yes, Riggs?"

"Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Understood?!"

"Yes, sir!"

Riggs let him go, and resumed addressing the men.

"As I was saying, it is believed that Oliver has been taken somewhere not close to this position, so you will all be taking the five pelican'ts you came in in groups of four. One to pilot, and the other three to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. You will all be heading in opposite directions from this point, and will explore a sector our local technician has put on your ships' maps and report to the rest of us any leads through your radios. We will all be on the same channel during this operation. Is anyone unclear of what to do?"

No one responded.

"The operation has begun. Ready your ships and explore your designated sectors," said Riggs.

Everyone returned to their ship and lifted off, one by one, so to avoid a midair collision.

"Our own Pelican't is ready to go, sir," Astoria said to Riggs. "I'll pilot."

Graham walked ahead of Astoria. "I'll pilot. These eyes wouldn't be too good for searching the ground."

"Eyes that couldn't search the ground shouldn't pilot a plane," responded Riggs. "As a matter of fact, Graham, we need someone to defend the fort from any roaming huggables, and you're just the bear for the job."

Graham reluctantly agreed, clearly worried about Oliver's health. "Understood, sir."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the H.I.P. test labs, an event that will change everything was about to happen.

"Oliver, we are almost on the final test. Everything up to this point has been a test to see how well you can stand a charge powerful enough to potentially bring out that power you had before, and after extensive study, we have concluded you will survive the procedure with no casualty."

"Awesome! So I'm going to change into O.C.O. again?" asked Oliver.

Instantly, a scientist behind him grabbed him and injected a needle in his arm.

"Sadly, this is the part you shouldn't be awake for," was the last thing Oliver caught before passing out again in the scientist's arms.

Oliver was brought asleep in a room with a massive generator behind a table which he was strapped onto. His legs, arms, and head were connected to the generator by cables.

All the scientists walked into an observation room with a double-sided mirror once Oliver was strapped in.

Dr. Clancy looked towards an awaiting scientist standing at a control panel. "Begin the test."

The generator behind Oliver roared to life, and so did the cables connecting it to Oliver's body.

He was not rapidly twitching, unlike most victims of shock, but instead sitting perfectly still like the sleeping bear he was.

"Increase the voltage by 100," said Dr. Clancy.

As soon as the changes were applied, Oliver began to float in midair, still asleep.

"Increase it by 500," said Dr. Clancy.

Oliver's skin began to glow a small shade of blue.

Dr. Clancy's excitement grew exponentially.

"Increase it by 2000," he demanded.

"2000?"  
"You heard me, 2000!"

The scientist applied the requested 2000 volts.

Oliver's skin became completely blue, Oliver was making small groans in his sleep, but the final symptom was not yet showing.

"He needs a little bit more. Give him. 3000 volts."

"Samuel, I don't think he needs much more. All he's missing is the canals in his skin."  
We don't know how much electricity gave him his power, you can never have too much. Do it!"

How wrong Dr. Clancy was.

After the final amount of electricity was applied, Oliver was practically screaming in his sleep, but Clancy got what he wanted. Canals of light carved into Oliver's skin, and the straps could no longer hold him down.

Even though he was still connected to the generator, he now floated free of the table he was previously strapped to.

"Gentlemen, we've done it. All that's left to do is find the exact voltage he is charged with now, and see what makes him so different from-"

"Sir, something's wrong."

All the scientists were gathering around the control panel, and saw what he saw. Oliver was waking up.

"The sedative won't last for much longer. We need to launch another dart at him."

"What's happening to him?" asked another scientist, pointing into the room.

Oliver's skin had turned from blue to black, the light canals in his skin had carved in further, and his sleep scream had turned into a sleep yell as he curled into a ball.

All the scientist watched, astonished. This is something they had never seen before.

**"mmmmmmMMMMRRRRRAGGGGHHHHH!"** yelled Oliver.

As he yelled, bright light enveloped him, and an explosion occurred, sending all the scientists against the wall on their backs.

The newly recolored O.C.O. descended, and prepared a short speech:

**Let no cry of vengeance go unheard!  
Let no evildoer share the privilege of being alive!  
Let all villains in the world know this accursed day marked the return of OVERCLOCKED OLIVER!**

As he descended, he began a maniacal laugh, but cut himself off at the sight of Dr. Clancy, the bear who turned him into what he is now.

But something on him caught his eye. On his chest, he saw a name tag, that was previously hidden. Rapidly, he picked it up off his chest.

**"Huggable Instrumentality Project,"** O.C.O. read out loud.

Dr. Clancy became very nervous in the presence of a god.

The next thing that caught O.C.O.'s attention was the logo behind the text he just read. It was a picture of a huggable with four arms and a circle below with the words H.I.P. stretched out.

O.C.O. grabbed Dr. Clancy by his shirt and held him above the ground.

**"You...it was you people who sent that robot to attack the Ursa Major. You lied to me, and attacked living things,"** said O.C.O..

The vengeful look on his face had vanished, and was replaced with pure anger.  
"Oliver...this isn't what you are. You've gone dark, both in appearance and attitude," said Dr. Clancy meekly.

**"Dark, huh?"** asked O.C.O. **"How's this for dark? Dr. Clancy, you and your organization have attempted to weaponize an innocent boy for your own evil purposes. For that, you shall pay the ultimate price."**

O.C.O. shot a laser through the ceiling with his free hand, and flew through the hole he created. To his surprise, he found he was underground the whole time, and was now flying high above a forest, and the nearby huggables watched in interest.

"Oliver, can't we talk this over? I gave you this power, don't I get a free pass?" Dr. Clancy asked desperately, noting how high he was above the ground.

**"No. It is my sole duty to ensure no evil will go unpunished. And you, Samuel Clancy, have been sentenced to..."**

O.C.O. threw him in the air, and fired a laser as thick as four tree trunks at him, incinerating him instantly.

**"...instant, painless death. Look out world, Overclocked Oliver has returned, and he's feeling a little dark,"** said Dark O.C.O.

Before he could begin his evil laugh, he saw a Pelican't flying straight for him. It stopped in midair in front of Dark O.C.O..

A voice came in through the intercom of the ship.

"Unidentified lifeform, stand down, identify yourself, and state your purpose here."  
Dark O.C.O. stared at them unamused.

"Unidentified lifeform, do as you are instructed, or we will shoot you down."

**"Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, heh, hahahahahahahahahaha, AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"**

No response came from the ship.

**"No,"** Dark O.C.O. said as he fired two lasers, each the same thickness as the last one, from both of his hands, aiming at the wings of the Pelican't.

With that single attack, it was downed, and all the nearby huggables disappeared into the forest. Dark O.C.O. ensured he wouldn't let these villains escape his power.

The battle bears who survived the crash tried to get out of the Pelican't, but unfortunately, he was able to slow time.

He grabbed all of them and threw them all against their own ship in bullet time.

They were all in unimaginable pain, but despite this, the smarter one reached for a radio inside the ship, and pressed an SOS signal on it.

Dark O.C.O. quickly disposed of him by incinerating his head, and then did that to the rest of them before they could gather their strength.

Dark O.C.O. took notice of the signal the bear had broadcasted before he was killed.  
**"Fine. Let the Battle Bears come to me. If I find them dark hearted or if they threaten me, then I shall not hesitate to destroy them,"** thought Dark O.C.O.


	4. Chapter 4

"We're getting an S.O.S. signal southwest. It must be the squad we dispatched there. We'd better check it out," said Astoria.

"Agreed," said Riggs.

Riggs grabbed the radio on the control panel.

"All units, I'm sure you have all received the S.O.S. signal. Stop what you are doing and come to this location to investigate," said Riggs.

The area the signal originated led the two to a forest. Several other Pelican'ts were waiting outside the trees.

"From here, we'll continue on foot. Get the tracker up on your com, we'll need to follow the signal through the forest," said Riggs.

Astoria decided to let silence be interpreted as understanding as she grabbed her rifle and handgun.

Riggs grabbed his machine gun, and with that, they were ready to move out.

Astoria and Riggs walked single file with Astoria in the front.

The forest was eerily quiet, not once did either Battle Bear hear the words "hug me" uttered, and if it weren't for them trudging through, the forest would be completely still.

Eventually Astoria's tracker led them right to them straight to the site of the signal: a crashed Pelican't.

"Oh no," said Riggs softly.

They both rushed over, weapons armed, looking for any survivors. What they found were not survivors.

When they looked inside the downed aircraft, they saw a gruesome sight: all the heads of the soldiers in the ship were missing, with heat emanating from their necks, as if they were burned off.

While they were both secretly disgusted, they did a good job of hiding it and sticking to the mission.  
"No huggable could have done this," said Astoria.

"Whoever did might still be nearby, keep your voice low, your weapons ready and follow my lead," said Riggs.

Astoria pulled out her handgun and covered Riggs's behind as he walked around.

The forest was as eerily quiet as it was before as they explored the area surrounding the downed Pelican't.

* * *

But then something happened that broke that ominous silence. The snapping of a twig.

Instantly, Riggs and Astoria aimed their weapons in the direction of the noise. They both fixated on a thick tree which it could have easily come behind from.

No movement was made for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally the mysterious person revealed himself from behind the tree as one of the Battle Bears that was sent to find Oliver.

Riggs and Astoria put their guard down, figuratively and literally.

"Riggs! Sir! Riggs! Guys, he's over here!" said the bear behind the tree, pointing towards Riggs.

Soon, most of the Battle Bears that had left the team's outpost had come out from hiding, and grouped around Riggs.

"Ten, hut!" exclaimed Riggs.

All the bears stood at attention.

Riggs read the name tag on the backpack of the bear in front of him.

"Johnson, report!"

"Sir, we were all attacked by an unknown enemy. Richards, Cage, and Parker were all killed on sight when they opened fire. It seemed to leave the rest of us alone when we didn't bother it, but that didn't stop the unholy creature from scaring the crap out of us..."

"What did it look like? Did you ask it about Oliver?"

"That's why Richards was killed. It neither accepted nor denied it had the cadet, but I'm pretty sure they met up at some point."

"Mother of God..." said Riggs.

Astoria clearly wasn't happy either.

"It looked like a bear, about the cadet's size actually, its skin was as black as night, its eyes were pupil-less and white, and it had scars all over it's body that glowed bright red. It appeared to have immense power, it shot lasers from it's hands, it could fly, occasionally teleported, or maybe it moved quickly, I couldn't tell you."

"Go back to the part where you said it was about the same size as Oliver. Was it the same shape as well?" asked Astoria intrigued.

There wasn't time for her question to be answered, for a red laser from the sky came to the ground between Riggs and Astoria and the surviving Battle Bears, and the sheer force of it knocked all of them on their backs.

When Astoria came to her senses, she saw the creature the bear had described in front of her on one knee and the opposite arm. It rose from it's position, looking between her and Riggs with a look of disappointment. Soon, that disappointment disappeared when the demon started laughing evilly, and then turning to ten bears behind him, still on their bums.

* * *

**"You have already been judged. Unless you desire another trial, you are not needed here,"** said Dark O.C.O..

With the swipe of his hand, all the Battle Bears had disappeared in the same red laser he had appeared in.

He turned back to Riggs and Astoria, who were now standing up, and Riggs was aiming his machine gun straight at Dark O.C.O..

**"I have been looking forward to this for some time now, Riggs and Astoria. Too bad Graham couldn't be here, is he back at the base? Probably yammering on to himself about where he put his water he just made, the sad old fart,"** said Dark O.C.O..

Riggs stepped forward, until he was just outside Dark O.C.O.'s personal space, aiming his machine gun right in between his eyes. Dark O.C.O. was unfazed.

"You've studied us," said Riggs. "Who are you, and what have you done with Oliver? You have five seconds to enlighten me."

Before Riggs could react, Dark O.C.O. picked him up by the legs, threw him at a nearby tree, picked him up again, and held him by his legs, badly injured flying above the ground.

The hellspawn faced Astoria.

**"Astoria, love, you're one of the smartest people in our team, or at least that's what you keep telling yourself. Have you figured out by now who I am?" **asked Dark O.C.O..

"Yes," said Astoria, hiding her fear with a confident voice.

"Love?" she thought. "I'm not even going to pretend I don't know what he's talking about."

**"Then can you enlighten our..."** Dark O.C.O. looked towards Riggs, who has hanging by his leg suspended over the ground. **"...'strong leader'?"**

Dark O.C.O. began to laugh once he'd called Riggs a strong leader.

"Riggs, this is thing is Oliver. I don't know how, but it is," said Astoria, eye level with the severely weakened Riggs.

**"Thing? You sting me, dear. But then again, you always have,**" said Dark O.C.O. coldly.

Astoria stared to the ground trying to ignore that comment.

"Oliver, if that really is you..." began Riggs.

**"It isn't, actually. Not anymore. Now, I am Dark Overclocked Oliver, and that is the way it always shall be,**" said Dark O.C.O. demandingly.

"...If you really are him, why are you doing this? Why hurt us? Why kill our allies?" finished Riggs.

He threw Riggs down next to Astoria, so he could face the two of them while he explained himself.

Riggs managed to stand up after being thrown against a tree and to the ground with Astoria's help.

They both looked up at Dark O.C.O., who was flying in a way that they had to look up to him with the trees behind him.

**"If you really want to know, I am the agent of the devil himself, and I take it upon myself to relay upon sinners the ultimate punishment, and severity of their demise will be determined by the severity of their crimes,"** said Dark O.C.O..

_He's gone mad with power_, thought Riggs

"But why would you kill the three soldiers who were looking for you?" asked Astoria.

**"They opened fire on me, me, their own comrade. That is an act of betrayal, and for that, they paid with their lives," **said Dark O.C.O. self-confidently.

"They were afraid. They thought you were a monster that had captured him. You're not even hurt! What made you angry enough to kill them?!" demanded Riggs.

**"Oh, Riggs, you're adorable," **said Dark O.C.O. like a father would to his son.

Riggs was aggravated, but knew better than to let it show to his enemy.

**"What I did to them was not out of anger or resentment, it was simply me doing my duties as a god of vengeful justice,"** said Dark O.C.O..

The casual look on Dark O.C.O. turned into resentment as he lowered himself to the ground.

**"What I am going to do to you, however..."**

Dark O.C.O. raised both his hands, fire spewing from each.

**"...will be personal."**

In the blink of an eye, Dark O.C.O. had Riggs pinned to the ground.

When Astoria tried to run to them, she was stopped by a force field Dark O.C.O. had made around her.

**"Nuh-uh-uh, you're not going anywhere. I'll deal with you in a moment,"** said Dark O.C.O..

Dark O.C.O. turned his attention back towards Riggs.

**"Riggs, I hate you. On multiple occasions, you have put me in great danger, you have almost no consideration for my feelings on a big decision, or a small, personal one, will not relent to embarrass me and get me to do your dirty work, and on a non-personal note, are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of huggables who never meant to hurt you. For this, you are sentenced to..."**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGH!"

Astoria covered her eyes, it was so horrible.

The huggables inside and outside the forest heard Riggs's cry of pain.

The pain, it was so unbearable, Riggs couldn't even feel his right arm.

The reason? He no longer had a right arm. Dark O.C.O. had torn it right off, and lugged it over his shoulder.

**"Death by unbearable pain. I figured it was fitting, since you were the strongest of the team, that I remove the arm you use to punch huggables to death."**

"Ugg, urgh, ungh-hungh, ugh," were some of the many noises Riggs made as he lied on the ground in pain.

With mechanical parts and think black blood pouring from the stump where his arm used to be, Riggs soon passed out in the grass.

"No! You monster! You mother(FCC Censorship) monster!" screamed Astoria as she beat on the walls of her force field cage.

Dark O.C.O. laughed over Riggs's unconscious body, proud of his work.

**"How does it feel, big bear? To not be the one in charge? To not be the one in power, making the descisions?" asked Dark O.C.O. "Because I'm having a jolly good time with that power, and I'm pretty sure if you were awake, you'd regret trying to make me do that thing in front of her yesterday over a checkers game."**

Turning his attention toward Astoria, Dark O.C.O. walked right over to her at a normal pace.

Astoria backed up until she hit a tree.

"What are you going to do to me? Tear my arm off? Just straight up kill me?" asked Astoria.

Dark O.C.O. Did something Astoria would have never guessed. He pulled her from the tree, held her eye level to him as he flew a few feet above the air. Astoria prepared for the worst. Finally, he...

...kissed her right on the lips.

He tossed her on the ground quickly, before he lost sight of his goal. Astoria gasped for air from the shock of his kiss and fear of what he was going to do to her.

**"I apologize, my love. I just wanted you to know how I feel, despite what I must do, due to what I am," said Dark O.C.O.. "Don't imagine stupid thoughts of me letting you off the hook, as a matter of fact, let it be known that no one gets off my hook."**

"You sick (FCC Censorship), why would you want to kill me? What evil have I done that you didn't see in any of the Battle a Bears you sent away?" said Astoria, trapped.

**"Funny you should ask, this is actually much more personal than Riggs back there. Riggs was just a jerk leader who assumed he always knew what was best, you are a whole different level," **said Dark O.C.O.

Fear was building up in Astoria.

**"I should begin. Astoria, you are the most condescending person I have ever known. You have always acted like you are better than me, you have always made fun of me for never being able to best you in training, and despite knowing how I felt about you, you denied my affection to the end. For this reason, I feel it would be fitting to remove the organ that symbolizes love from you,"** said Dark O.C.O. ominously.

"You're going to tear out my heart?!" exclaimed Astoria frantically as she backed up on the ground.

**"I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty, I'll just shoot a heart-sized laser right through it!" **said Dark O.C.O. evilly as he raised is arm in preparation.

But then a miracle happened.

Dark O.C.O. started twitching, and then fell to the ground unconscious.

As he fell, Graham was revealed behind him, holding a two pronged taser of some sort.

"Graham! Thank God you're here!" said Astoria as she ran up and gave her savior a bear hug. "How did you know that would knock him out cold?"

"I didn't, but it worked, you're alive, and we know electricity, for some odd reason, has an effect on him," said Graham.

"Easy now, younger timer, my bones have grown fragile over the years," said Graham. "We need to get these two back to the base."

Graham noted the arm on the ground next to Riggs.

"Forget that. He needs medical attention right now. You bring him to the Pelican't, and take him to the base camp, there will be doctors there who can repair him. I'll deal with the young troublemaker."

"What can we do to stop him?" asked Astoria as she lugged the extremely heavy Riggs and his arm over her back.

Graham could tell by the sorrow in her voice she thought he was going to kill him.

"Before we do the unthinkable, I'm going to try to steal his powers from him, and with our newfound knowledge about him and electricity, I may have the perfect tools to do that."

Astoria was confused, but pressed on to save Riggs. "Good luck!"

Graham sat the unconscious Dark O.C.O. up against a nearby tree.

Quickly he grabbed a certain device that looked like a lightbulb with arms.

"You adorable little things were meant to take the power of huggables and convert it to energy, but now you are serving a much greater purpose," thought Graham as he let the generator hug Dark O.C.O.'s unconscious body. He then set three others, all four hugging him and stealing the power from him.

"For the sake of all of us, this had better work, thought Graham as he found a place to sit under a tree parallel to where he set up Dark O.C.O..

With the generator kill switch in his hands, Graham waited in the quiet forest.


	5. Chapter 5

When Riggs woke up, he was in a hospital bed. He couldn't feel his right arm.

The memories of Dark O.C.O.'s actions returned to him like a bullet. Quickly he looked at his right arm to ensure what had happened was not a dream.

For better or worse, what he found did not reassure him that was true.

His arm was stitched back on (you know, kind of like how a teddy bear can be sewn together).

He tested how well it worked, and found he was able to wiggle his fingers and bend his elbow, but couldn't move his shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a feminine voice at the end of the room. Riggs turned to see a nurse messing around with medical equipment. "Your arm was only recently reapplied. It's still rather fragile at the moment. We've done all that has to, you just need to rest now while your body pulls itself together."

"I'm at base camp, aren't I?" asked Riggs.

"Indeed you are," said the Nurse.

Riggs sat up. "Get me Captain Malcolm. We have a situation on our hands."

"Special agent Astoria already informed us of the situation," said Malcolm as he walked in through the E.R. doors with his hands behind his back. "Your team's technician is with him now, draining the power out of him. He has put himself on live camera feed for us. Also, for your sake, ypu really shouldn't have you arm dangling like that."

riggs laid aid back down for his arm to rest.

"Captain, he's an old bear. He needs some backup," said Riggs. "What's this about draining power from him?"

"It would be best if you saw it rather than being told," said Malcolm as he took a remote control and turned on a holographic TV that hovered in front of Riggs's bed.

On the screen, he saw Dark O.C.O. unconscious, surrounded by a paparazzi of Graham's hug-loving generators.

"Brilliant old bear...where is Astoria?" asked Riggs, quickly wondering what became of her if Oliver tore his arm off.

"Boo," said Astoria from behind his bed.

"It appears you and the captain have grown an allergy to the word hello," said Riggs sarcastically.

Astoria chuckled.

"You're unhurt. How did you stop him from killing you?" asked Riggs.

"Graham saved me. Apparently Dark O.C.O. has some weakness to electricity," said Astoria.

"So that it how we will beat him, should we have to do the worst," said Malcolm. "I have had every soldier at base camp equipped with electricity based weapons, and are ready to hit him if he comes within 1000 yards."

riggs raised his eyebrow in interest.

"Sir, are your intentions to kill him?" asked Riggs.

Malcolm was silent for a moment, concerning Astoria and Riggs.

"If Graham fails and he comes for us, my intentions are to defend my men with as little loss of life as possible. If that means having every Battle Bear in base camp fire lightning rifles at a single target, then what will happen will hopefully save us."

Captain Malcolm's cryptic answer had left Riggs and Astoria worrying for their ally.

* * *

"Can't fall asleep, Graham. If you do, the poor boy could be in the generator's grasp too long, or he could wake up and kill me in my sleep, or he could be just fine and then trigger the traps I've placed," said Graham to himself. "So I can't fall asleep."

Despite what he told himself, Graham almost dozed off.

As if to help him stay awake, a nearby voice called out "Hug me!"

Graham quickly looked up to see a huggable come out of the trees behind Dark O.C.O.. He was soon followed by a group of around twenty multicolored huggables, that included mostly pinks and some reds, all making the same chant: "Hug me!"

But his troubles weren't that small. From either side of him, a blue slowly approached with orange ones dashing in from all sides.

* * *

Riggs and Astoria saw it all from the camera feed from Riggs's hospital bed.

"We need to get over there!" exclaimed Astoria.

"It would be futile, it's a manageable group. He may old, but he's an old Battle Bear. He can take them," said Riggs.

"I'm sure the only thing he has is the machine gun you left and that electric staff he had! He needs-"

"Hush. You'll ruin the show," said Riggs.

* * *

"For the second time today, I'm awakened from my sleep by these monsters, alone. Why couldn't it have been either of the limber two?" asked Graham out loud.

Graham walked towards the still unconscious Dark O.C.O., leaning against one of the generators with a single button controller again.

When all the huggables were close enough and his goggles were on right enough, he pressed it aiming at his trap, detonating a preset circle of explosives that surrounded him and Dark O.C.O..

* * *

there was clapping in the emergency room.

"That's the Graham I know!" said Riggs

"Gotta admit, I'm impressed," said Astoria.

* * *

"Hah, I really do still got it," said Graham taking a look at the dead huggables of the ambush he just survived.

"Rargh!" a noise came from the forest.

Graham turned around to see a huggabull, and it was preparing to charge right at him!

Graham moved out of the way quick enough, but he knocked over Dark O.C.O. and the generators like a set of pins, and he was the bowling ball.

Graham soon noticed the machine gun Riggs left behind. He picked it up, and gunned down the bull with ease.

His self-pride was soon gone, as he brought his attention to the defiled generators, and the first thing he noticed was Dark O.C.O. was gone.

He almost had a heart attack when a voice behind grabbed his shoulder and asked **"Looking for someone?"**

Graham turned around and legitimately passed out.

**"What a frail old fart, look at him the wrong way and he might die,"** said Dark O.C.O. insultingly.

It was silent in the E.R.. Everyone stood speechless at Dark O,C.O.'s escape.

The nurse gasped when his attention snapped towards the camera.

While holding Graham over his shoulder, he walked towards the camera and bent over so his face took up most of the picture.

**"I assume this is headed straight back to the Battle Bears, too bad I can't question you liverhead, **said Dark O.C.O., looking at Graham before turning back to the camera.** "But while I can believe it, I want you all to know I'm coming for you. Not just Riggs and Astoria, all of you. Want to know why?"**

The room remained silent, as the audio was one way.

Dark O.C.O. picked up the camera, and flew high above and away from the forest, in view of a beautiful valley filled with huggables of all colors, shapes and sizes down below, playing, running about, hugging each other, and unicorns flying overhead into the sunset.

**"You see this place? This place is the home of aliens you call huggables. They are the picture of innocence, having nothing in their heart but love and nothing on their mind but hugging and spreading joy to those around them. They live long, happy lives under rainbows and flying unicorns every day, with no rain, no pain, just eternal happiness day after day after day. This world is their paradise.**

Dark O.C.O. put the camera back to his face. Riggs and Astoria could both tell where this was going.

**"But then you came. Not one person in your camp can say they have not mass murdered these pure of heart animals, for the sake of finding some useless artifacts. I'm well aware that their hugs can do terrible things to our kind, but there were many options you could have chosen that involved killing none of them. You were all too bloodthirsty, too willing to kill first, ask questions never when it came to these harmless animals, all so you could get some easy cash on this planet. So I'm putting a stop to this, to restore peace to this planet, to end the huggables' nightmare. I'd like to say goodbye to all of you in advance, as it's going to be hard to say that when I'm slaughtering everyone in your evil camp. And to Riggs and Astoria? You escaped my hand once. Don't expect it to happen twice. And your friend Graham here will pay for saving you from punishment when I arrive at your camp."**

The camera was thrown to the ground from the fifty stories Dark O.C.O. Was flying from.

It quickly went blue screen with the words "LOST SIGNAL. WAITING FOR RECONNECT." on it.

"I shall ready the troops," said Malcolm, not facing Riggs or Astoria as he left the room.

Astoria sat in a chair near Riggs's bed.

"Riggs, what are we going to do? Either he's going to kill us all or every one is going to kill him if we do nothing," said Astoria, with her head in her hands.

"Did you notice something about that video? What he said about huggables?" said Riggs.

"I noticed it made me question the morality of what we've done here," said Astoria.

Riggs chose not to respond to that.

"I noticed he vouched for innocent creatures, and planned to kill us for their sake," said Riggs.

"But the only thing he'd kill on behalf of so far has been himself..." said Astoria, with her hand to her chin. "We need to find someone so innocent that he would kill on behalf of who can talk him into powering down. But who...?"

After a quick second, both Riggs and Astoria's ears rose in realization.

"I know who we need," they both said at the same time.

"We need to find a way to contact him," said Astoria, about to leave the room.

"I'll go with you," said Riggs, getting out of bed.

"But your arm..."

"My arm can be stitched back on again. If Oliver gets to us before we can get to his friend, not all the king's horses and men will be able to put me back together again," said Riggs as he made his way to Astoria's side.

"Ha. Let's go."

They both left the room with their objective clear and stakes high.

Their trek through the camp was accompanied by loud sirens, symbolizing the impending arrival of the bringer of doom.


	6. Chapter 6

Riggs and Astoria had left the medical building of base camp, but that was the easy part. The hard part was getting to mission control without being detected so they cull contact the only person who could stop Dark O.C.O..

The reason that was the hard part was not only did they have to get by the 500+ Battle Bears who were sprinting to their battle stations every which way in the darkness of night, but they also had to get to the control building to use the long distance communicators.

"Wait," said Riggs, stopping both him and Astoria amidst the throngs of bears. "We can't just go in there, Malcolm's probably orchestrating this whole thing with his team. We can't go in there without him figuring out something's up."

Astoria almost laughed. "Do you think I would do anything this big if I didn't have a plan first? So here's what we're going to do..."

Two guards stood at the main entrance of the main communications building, both scared of what was going to happen once Dark O.C.O. arrived.

But Dark O.C.O. was the least of their concerns.

Rapidly, they both were shot sleeping darts by Astoria from her sniper rifle, too quickly for one to warn the other, and they both passed out on the ground.

On this cue, Astoria and Riggs charged toward the unguarded doors, and were greeted by a vast room of bears in front of computer screens lining the left and right walls, with Captain Malcolm's chair in the center of the room facing a massive monitor on the back wall. Focused on managing individual squads of Battle Bears, he paid no attention to the intruders who had just broken in.

Running over to the nearest long-distance communication station on the right wall, Riggs tapped the bear in front of it on the shoulder with Astoria behind him.

"Hey buddy, we need to use this comm," said Riggs.

"What planet are you on, soldier? I need to be here to help us stop the enemy!" replied the bear.

Riggs answered with a knockout punch.

"That's one thing we have in common. Astoria, hide him and get Ursa Major on the line, I'll see if diplomacy will convince the next guy to give me his comm, hopefully not," said Riggs.

"Wasn't this MY plan?" muttered Astoria under her breath as she called the ship.

* * *

Dark O.C.O. flew as fast as he could to the base camp with unconscious Graham over his shoulder, which isn't actually that fast, surprisingly.

His attention was soon drawn away from a loud noise that was close in proximity to him.

He even stopped in midair to ask: **"What is that infernal noise?"**

He soon realized it was Graham's communicator, which was a part of his backpack.

He slowly landed on the ground, on top of a green hill, and placed Graham on his stomach so he could hear the transmission loud and clear when he answered it.

**"Who is this? I'm very busy at the moment,"** said Dark O.C.O..

"Someone should teach you some phone manners, Ollie boy," said Riggs.

Dark O.C.O.'s blood boiled. **"Riggs...if this is a message of intimidation or surrender, save us both time and end it now-"**

"It's neither. It's a warning," said Riggs. "We've figured out your secret weakness: electricity."

Dark O.C.O. was about to protest, but then the thought came to his head: **"I was brought into this world because my systems were over clocked by high amounts of electricity, is it possible that high amounts of electricity could take me out of it? The old man subdued me by a simple electrical weapons, I mustn't risk it! There has to be some other way to destroy them..."**

"Don't think you can shoot us from a distance, every Battle Bear at base camp is preparing for your arrival and will shoot you down the moment you reveal yourself," said Riggs.

Dark O.C.O. put his hand to his chin, but then figured out what to do by looking up into the starry night.

**"You fool, I'll just destroy you all in one shot from space! No risk for me, and your annihilation! If I were you, leader, I wouldn't bother running away with my dear Astoria, because I will hunt you down to the ends of this planet and kill you before resolving vengeance elsewhere,"** said Dark O.C.O. **"MUAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! SEE YOU IN HELL, RIGGS!"**

And just like that, he flew up to the stars to prepare his attack, accidentally leaving Graham and his communicator to the huggables, should they find him before he woke up.

It was a good thing the transmission was only through audio, because if Dark O.C.O. had seen the huge smile on Riggs's face the whole time he was talking about going to space, the plan would have been ruined.

"He bought it," said Riggs to Astoria. "He's headed up to space now to prepare his attack on base camp. How are things going on your end?"

Astoria interrupted her conversation briefly to inform Riggs.

"Smoothly. I've explained the situation to them, and they're willing to help. I'll be guiding what's-his-name through the whole thing on an earpiece. I'll be telling him what to say," said Astoria.

"Excellent. Then tell them to find Dark O.C.O., and let's get this show on the road!" said Riggs.

* * *

Dark O.C.O. had flown up to low enough orbit to be out of the Battle Bears' line of sight while still able to see their encampment. He took a moment to soak in the beauty of the planet from space before preparing to destroy the camp.

He threw both his hands in the air(?), and a ball of energy began to grow within them. It grew bigger and bigger, but not yet big enough to throw at base camp.

**"Just a little bit more, and the Battle Bears will be-"**

Dark O.C.O. interrupted himself. He saw a familiar sight fly by: his ship, the Ursa Major. The very ship that he, in another life, had cleared of huggables. He knew the ship's computer must have been behind this

**"ABBi, you have no part in this. As a machine, there is no evil in you. Step aside, or I will destroy you with the rest-"**

A massive hologram appeared from the ship that was as big as the ship. But it wasn't ABBi. It was the only person who could possibly stop Dark O.C.O..

**"...No. Please no,"** said Dark O.C.O. grimly.

"O-Oliver, st-stop right there!" exclaimed Wil, struggling to sound confident.

**"Wil, move out of the way. This energy ball is big enough to destroy the Battle Bears, and I don't want you to go, too,"** said Dark O.C.O..

"I'm not budging, Oliver, our friends are down there, and if you want to destroy the Battle Bears, I'm one of them," said Astoria from the pink planet, which Wil repeated on the Ursa Major.

**"Wil, they're evil, every one of them. You're not. I must destroy them for the sake of people like you, pure of heart, an unharmful soul,"** said Dark O.C.O..

"Why? Why do you have to destroy them? None of them are evil, some of them your best friends! And I've seen how you look at Astoria," said Wil.

Wil couldn't believe Astoria had her say that last part. Riggs, who was behind her, also gave an odd look.

"Don't act like you haven't noticed," said Astoria to Riggs.

Big mistake, Wil repeated that out loud, and at that moment, Dark O.C.O. could tell something was up. He dissipated his energy sphere, and flew up to an airlock under the ship.

**"ABBi. Let me in. Now,"** said Dark O.C.O..

She complied, and Dark O.C.O. flew quickly through the empty decks of the Ursa Major, until he found Wil in the front of the ship in the pilot's seat, facing the door when he came in. ABBi's robotic eye hung next to him for when he entered the room.

"You shouldn't destroy them, Oliver, they're our-"

Dark O.C.O. walked right over to Wil, grabbed his ear, and crushed his earpiece with two fingers.

**"I don't want to hear crap from Astoria about why I shouldn't destroy the Battle Bears. Wil, if you truly believe they should be spared, you have five minutes to convince me," **said Dark O.C.O..

"Ummm, er, ah, hmmm," stammered Wil.

ABBi looked ready to tear Wil's head off, how angry she looked.

**"Well? I'm waiting..."** said Dark O.C.O., tapping his foot.

"You shouldn't destroy the Battle Bears because they're not evil!" said Wil

**"And why is that?"**

"Didn't think about that part..."

**"Heh, heh, heh, if this continues, I will simply leave and destroy them right now."**

Dark O.C.O. turned around and flew towards the door.

"No! Wait! Don't go! You shouldn't kill them because they've been our family for the past nine years!"

This caught his attention. He stopped before the door, and turned around.

**"Family? Family?! Wil, they've been horrible to you for the past nine years! I'm sure neither Riggs or Astoria could tell me your name! Captain Malcolm has you demoted to the lowest rank! Our god-forsaken motto is 'Leave no bear behind, except Wil'. How could these people be family to you?"** said Dark O.C.O. angrily.

"The same way all families are made: time spent with each other! I've had nine years to get to know everyone on my team, and while Riggs might be a bit mean sometimes, he's always been a great leader for our squad who puts our lives ahead of his! I can recall multiple times Riggs shot huggables that were coming for you instead of the ones that were coming for him! He once tossed me away from a horde of them before he massacred them all!"

Dark O.C.O.'s interest rose.

"Graham has been one of the nicest old guys I've ever known! Most others will tell me to go away because I smell or get out of the birdseed, but Graham is able to tolerate me, and even though he'll ramble on about the most pointless things, he's always been willing to give me a snack when he feels like it!"

Dark O.C.O. remained silent.

"Astoria has always been the smart person who can best the both of us in combat and while she's a bit independent, but she's always been our dear friend. And she's always been fun-loving, pranking you back when you prank her, responsible for throwing the surprise birthday party for everyone in our group, including me, even though she didn't remember my name. She's always supported you in missions, making sure that one huggable you didn't see doesn't get too close to you, and being able to back you up while being able to ask for backup as well!"

Dark O.C.O.'s eyes were wide open.

**"But the rest, they've killed huggables..."**

"Forget huggables! They're monsters!"

**"But I've never seen you hurt one..."**

"Did I ever tell you about all the zombie huggables I killed once?"

**"No...but's that's aside the point."**

"They're monsters, while they look cute, you saw what they did to Jackson! And they would do that just as easily to any of us! They would kill us, just like that!"

Dark O.C.O. stood in silence again.

"Oliver, please power down. There's no need for anyone to die today, and you've become a monster just like the huggables," said Wil, compassionately.

ABBi decided to chime in.

"Please don't kill them. I want to go to the others and be away from this idiot," said ABBi.

Anger grew rapidly in the god of vengeance when the computer said this.

Dark O.C.O. shot a quick hand laser at ABBi.

**"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT ABOUT THIS INNOCENT-"**

The laser pierced ABBi's eye, but then the window behind it. All the oxygen left the room into the vacuum of space, and Wil, sucked out of the ship along with every loose item in the room, was grabbing at his throat while flying out the window.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Wil as he flew into space.

**"No! No! No!"** yelled Dark O.C.O. in fear as he flew out after Wil.

Wil was shot away faster than Dark O.C.O. could fly. His nub arms were now flailing, trying to grab Dark O.C.O., who was a good ten feet away from him, and the distance was only growing.

**"No,"** Dark O.C.O. thought.** "I will not let him die seeing me a monster."**

Dark O.C.O. pushed himself. He pushed himself further than he ever would have if he were going to fulfill vengeance, whether it be his own, or others'.

Soon, he gained enough speed to catch Wil.

But he was too late. Wil had stopped moving. His skin felt cold in Dark O.C.O.'s arms, and he wasn't breathing.

**"No. No, no, no, no, no no no no no! No!"** exclaimed Dark O.C.O. at Wil's dead body in his arms.

Flame red tears came from the sorrowful god's eyes.** "What have I done?! My own best friend, dead, because of me! MY OWN BEST FRIEND!"**

Dark O.C.O. buried his face in Wil's stomach. He quickly pulled it up, and took one look at his cold, unmoving eyes. He took a look at the sun, the moon, the pink planet, the Ursa Major, then back to Wil, both of them floating in space.

**"...Wil..."**

Dark O.C.O. was fed up with it. He gathered all the energy he had, and put it all into the next thing he said:

**"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...!"**

His cry was heard all throughout the galaxy. All the Battle Bears at base camp stopped what they were doing and looked up to the sky. The huggables stood in place, no longer hugging each other, to pay attention to the sadness in the voice they heard. On planets they had not yet explored, intelligent species looked to the sky, why not recognizing the language, recognized a cry of remorse.

But that wasn't all that happened. Red lightning began to form around Dark O.C.O., at first in little bits, but then until it engulfed him, but he didn't notice because he was still yelling no.

* * *

Finally, his cry had been interrupted by a slap to the face.

"OLIVER! Pull yourself together!" exclaimed Riggs.

"What? Riggs?" asked Oliver, extremely confused.

Oliver looked down at himself. He was now his regular self, not over clocked. He looked at his feet to see a checkers game that he lost. He looked in front of him to see Riggs with his arms crossed, and Astoria and Graham in the hallway of their outpost, expectantly waiting for him to do something.

"Well Oliver? I won. You have to hold up your end of the bet," said Riggs.

_I've travelled back in time! If I do that thing Riggs wanted me to this morning, I won't be put on watch duty, so the H.I.P. will never capture me, so I'll never turn into Dark Overclocked Oliver!_ thought Oliver.

"Give me a minute!" said Oliver as he rushed out of the room.

"Oliver?" asked Astoria.

"Oh my god, he's actually doing it," said Riggs.

"What? What exactly did you bet him to do?" asked Astoria.

"Be ready for the shock of your life," said Riggs excited.

In decent time, he returned in a full blue ball gown, a crown on his head, a pipe in his mouth, brass knuckles on his hands, and clown shoes on his feet

"What the hell...?" said Astoria.

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle," said Graham.

Oliver walked over to a stereo in the corner, and hit play. He began to dance to the most 70's song anyone in the room had ever heard.

* * *

Author's note: If you want to know what song he danced to, search "Waluigi Pinball - Super Smash Bros. Brawl" on YouTube, by GilvaSunner. Try to imagine Oliver dancing to this song in the outfit described. The result, I must say, is quite magical.

* * *

Oliver was doing the most crazy moves anyone knew, at one point he was spinning on his head, he did the worm multiple times, and overall, just plain rocked out!

Was he afraid? More than anything in his life.

But was he willing to do it to save everyone? Yes.

Graham had to leave the room for his heart before he started dancing as he might have a heart problem if he laughed too hard, but Astoria was beating the wall at the sight, and Riggs was leaning on his knees, both out of breath, until Riggs finally said "Okay, okay, enough. Enough, please."

On that note, Oliver threw the stereo on the ground and tore off his ridiculous outfit.

"Okay, soldier, you'll be happy to know I will never ask you to do that again," said Riggs.

But instead of responding with a 'thank god' like Riggs expected, Oliver walked over and gave Riggs a hug. He then did the same for Astoria, and even though he left the room, Graham.

"That felt completely out of place, but it's good to be reminded not all hugs are deadly," said Astoria.

"Sorry. I'm just happy to be here with my family," said Oliver. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room."

Riggs, Graham, and Astoria looked at each other puzzled once he'd left.

"That was very odd," said Graham.

"I guess he just wants all of us to know we're appreciated," said Riggs.

"I guess," said Graham.

After that, they both left to do their own thing, leaving only Astoria in the room.

With nothing to do, she decided to bother Oliver.

She found him in his room looking out his open window at the sky.

"What shenanigans are you up to now, classy dresser?" asked Astoria.

"Nothing. Just thinking of a dear friend I wish could be with us right now," replied Oliver, not looking away.

Astoria decided to look out his window as well.

"Do you ever notice how there always seems to be a rainbow in the sky on this planet?" asked Astoria. "It's always so peacfu- hang on a sec."

Astoria grabbed her sniper rifle on her back, and shot the head off of a distant huggable out Oliver's window, then returned to her seated position.

"Oliver, what you said about family back there, I'm glad you appreciate having us around. Who is it you say you wish could be with us now?" asked Astoria.

"Wil," said Oliver, still not looking away from the sky.

_So that's his name...I can never remember that,_ thought Astoria.

"Any specific reason you're thinking of him?" she asked.

"He saved me from doing something I would regret for the rest of my life, stopped me from becoming a monster when I was trying to kill monsters," said Oliver.

"Really? Do tell," said Astoria, now interested.

"You wouldn't believe it," said Oliver.

"Try me. Even if I don't believe it, it oughta be entertaining," said Astoria.

"Okay then. Have a seat, because I've got a real story to tell."

THE END


End file.
